Love and Other Chemicals
by m3dli
Summary: Beware of handsome boys with weighted names and don't get too drunk at frat parties. Rio x Neil college AU.


**A/N** I've recently just gotten back into Harvest Moon. I've had ANB more or less since it came out, but I never really got into it (probably because of that awful, season-long tutorial section haha) but I've become completely addicted this summer, and after falling back in love with this franchise, I started reading lots and lots of fics and eventually came up with the idea for this one! I have some interesting stuff planned, so get ready ;)

* * *

It was a slothful August morning for the students of HMU, and the post party fatigue was palpable; the whole college was suffering from a severe hangover. In particular, one freshman was awoken to a particularly painful headache.

Rio Whyte had a bad taste in her mouth. She tried to ignore it because the bed was so comfortable, but she had a really awful taste in her mouth. She pulled the quilt closer and her elbow poked into something.

 _An... arm?_

Her eyes sprang open. She took in the unfamiliar surroundings. This wasn't her dorm.

The arm of unknown origin was wrapped lightly around her abdomen.

 _Whatthefuck?_

Heartbeat speeding up, her body went limp in an attempt to melt away into the mattress. No such luck.

She gathered herself and tried to gently lift the arm off of her. Unfortunately, this was fruitless. After a few moments of violently prying at the mysterious arm (If a tiny hungover girl with no upper body strength could ever really be considered violent) she heard a groan and the body behind her rolled over and plonked down on the other side of the king-size.

Taking advantage of her chance to escape she made a dash for the door. It was about halfway down the hallway when a cool breeze reminded her she was completely naked.

Hastily slipping back into the room, she struggled into the dress from last night and fumbled around on the ground for her underwear. She snatched a crumpled pair of panties from underneath the nightstand. It was then she looked up and her eyes found the person the mystery arm belonged to. She was face to face with him: blonde, handsome, and snoring pretty obtrusively. Suddenly, all her memories of the previous night came flooding back all at once.

 _Shit._

* * *

After an uncomfortable walk of shame back to her dorm, Rio sighed heavily under the warm water of the shower hitting her back. The first thing she did after scrubbing off the makeup and sweat was call Chelsea.

Probably a mistake.

"Oh my god you sLUT!"

"Chels..."

"I'm SO PROUD!"

This was an expected reaction. She sighed into her green tea. Chelsea paused her excited rambling for a moment "So... who was this lucky guy?"

Rio sighed even more. Phone calls with Chelsea made her asthma act up. "That's the worst part." She bit her lip. "I didn't know his name."

There was an audible gasp on the other line. "Oh my god. Wow" She was stunned but quickly recovered. "You know, Ri, I'm happy that you're finally getting out more and I think you definitely needed to get laid,"

"Ouch."

"Buut. Well. This all seems really unlike you. You've never hooked up with strangers before."

"Yeah... I know" she admitted. "Not to sound cliché, but it all just felt so right. Last night was kind of magical. Everything kind of just… fell into place."

"That good of a fuck, huh"

"Not just that! we had such a good conversation too." She argued. "We talked for hours."

"Oh really? What about?"

"Just like, life. And religion, morality, politics, space, everything." She let out a happy sigh for a change.

Chelsea chuckled. "You know, it's probably a good thing you don't remember his name."

"Huh?"

"You're a smart girl, Ri. You can have your fun but at the end of the day... you shouldn't get attached to some random fuckboy. You're way better than that."

There was a small silence between them.

"Hey Chels, wanna grab coffee later? After my roommate shows up?"

"Same place as yesterday?"

"Yeah. See you later."

"Laterr"

A click was heard and she flopped backwards on the bed.

Welp. Seems like a good time to finish unpacking. She put on some of her favourite classical music and got out her suitcase.

* * *

Rio surveyed her new living space. She had already claimed the bunk closest to the door for the extra wall space. Rio needed room for all her calendars and schedules, after all.

The room was pretty decent, all things considered. Two beds, two desks and a bathroom where the shower was hot 70% of the time. She could get used to this. The only thing missing was her phantom roommate. Someone called "Michelle Forte" according to the papers she got when she was assigned her dorm. She hoped they would get along.

After a few hours, Rio figured her roommate either got the wrong room or wasn't coming at all. She frowned. Everyone was supposed to have signed in yesterday evening.

16:23 [Hey Chel, still up for coffee? She isn't here still so im giving up lol]

16:25 [Yeahh! See you in 10!]

* * *

Light from the windows danced over the silverware on the counter of a very cosy coffee shop. Lunch rush was well over, but the murmur of students was still ever-present in the air. It was slightly cramped, but that fact gave the café a certain snugness about it, Rio thought. The tables and wooden fixtures were scratched and well-worn. This place had definitely been around a long time.

Rio gazed into her hot chocolate and tried to decipher what the indie song playing was supposed to be about. She watched a marshmallow dissolve and sink to the bottom of her mug.

 _Too hipster for me, I guess_

The bell overhead the door tinkled and she snapped to attention. Chelsea walked over with a grin. "Hope you haven't been waiting too long." She glanced at her phone "Oh wait. I'm on time. You're just way early as per usual."

"Well I'm sorry for being too punctual, then" Rio laughed.

"Hey, I seriously need my caffeine fix right now so I'll be back in a sec. You better watch my space." She added. Chelsea stomped up to the counter with purpose.

Rio leaned back in her seat and allowed herself to glance around at the other people in the small shop. A group of girls were sat in one corner, whispering gossip and giggling like little girls at a sleepover. At a small table, a serious looking man sat stiffly with a laptop, typing furiously and taking breaks only occasionally to sip at his coffee. A couple had planted themselves on a couch behind her engaging in probably a little too much pda.

And then, she spotted him. Sandy blonde hair and a scowl that could make small children cry.

 **It was the guy from last night.**

Rio immediately started choking on her hot chocolate.

She sensed eyes darting towards her and so she put her hand over her mouth and tried desperately to stop spluttering. Chelsea plonked down in the seat across from her. "Are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Y-yeah just…"

"Is it like, asthma!?" Chelsea panicked.

"Nonono just… t-that's the guy over there" she grimaced "From last night…"

Chelsea gaped and swiftly turned her head "WHICH GUY?"

"Jesus, stop making it so obvious." Rio hissed "…It's the blonde one behind you"

The other girl stole a few glances, then made a 'hmm' sound. She tapped her lip. "Not exactly rainbows and sunshine with that guy, huh?

"What do you mean?"

"It kind of looks like he's sucking on a lemon."

Suddenly, Chelsea's eyes lit up. Rio groaned. "He isn't a jock though! I thought for sure he was some frat bro!"

Rio frowned "And why exactly is that relevant?"

"Well it means you should definitely approach him! I mean, he is sort of attractive in a 'ohh I'm such a tortured soul' kind of way. Most importantly he isn't like, a football player or something."

"Hey, I'm sure there's plenty of tortured souls who enjoy football."

"Hush, Ri. Now go say hi to him."

"What? Are you out of your mind? That was a one-time thing! You can't just go up to your one night stand the morning after and have a normal conversation!"

"But why not?" Rio blinked. Chelsea continued "I mean, that emo hipster looks like he probably isn't a fan of following social etiquette anyway." She shook her fist "Screw oppressive social norms! Fuck the system! Free love!"

"C'monnnn Chel. Leave it." she crossed her arms.

Chelsea still looked determined "You were the one boasting about this guy's supposedly amazing conversation skills. So talk to him! Like now!" She kicked her pouty friend under the table.

"But I don't even know his name…" She trailed off. Just looking at Chelsea's face she knew she wasn't getting out of this one.

"Fine." Rio conceded, getting up. Chelsea let out a soft squeal and grinned as she watched her best friend walk hesitantly over to the table. She giggled in anticipation.

A sudden wave of nervousness hit her. She tried to compose herself "Um, hey…"

The sandy haired boy looked up at her with a confused expression. "Yes?"

"Well, I just saw you here and thought-"she was interrupted mid-sentence "Do I… know you?" his look of confusion became one of annoyance. Rio gaped. "Look. Just tell me what you want." he said roughly. "Who are you, anyway?" Her face fell.

 _He doesn't know who I am_

 _He forgot_

 _No. He's pretending to forget._

 _Jesus fuck I don't know_

The boy was getting impatient at her lack of response. She looked back down at his annoyed expression and sprang to attention. Her face flushed. "W-well um… I just wanted to… wanted to…"

His eyes drilled into her expectantly.

"Um. Never mind. Sorry to bother you." She turned and scuttled back towards her table.

"Chel. We need to leave." Nodding her head Chelsea stood up and the pair walked out of the coffee shop and into the heavy afternoon air.

 _Weird_. He thought. _That girl looked kind of familiar_ Neil shrugged his shoulders and went back to his coffee.

* * *

"But like, how could he not remember me at ALL?"

Chelsea was expecting her friend to be put down by the current situation, but she was much more angry and indignant than in any way sad. In fact, Rio was furious. She leaned on the wall behind her and folded her arms.

"What did I even see in him? I must have been SO drunk." Rio clenched her fist "Ugh, seriously what a DICK!"

"That's what she said." A smug voice declared. Rio whipped around to see a familiar redhead approach her with a shorter ginger following in tow.

She gasped "Allen! Rod! Oh my god I haven't seen you guys in forever!"

"Hey Rio, how are you doing? It's great to see you again!" Rod beamed _. That boy's smile could generate enough positive energy to power several large refrigerators_ , she thought

Chelsea and Allen started reminiscing about details of the four student's shared hometown while Rio was simply enjoying having a distraction from the traumatic event that had just occurred. But it didn't last long. She was suddenly drawn to two figures rolling around on the grass near the East building. Her eyes narrowed.

"Rio, it really is so nice to see you again! I had planned on reaching out anyway to see if you wanted to hang out but forget that, I was actually wondering if maybe you would like to go get coffee with me or something tomorrow after-"

"CHELSEA WHAT THE SHIT IS GOING ON."

"What are you talking about-" Chelsea looked at where Rio was pointing. On the other side of the mostly empty quad was a fashionable looking girl sitting on some guy's lap. She had distractingly pink hair.

"Now that's tacky." Remarked Allen.

Chelsea rubbed her eyes. There was no mistaking it, that was definitely the guy from the coffee shop. Her jaw dropped. "…What the fuck" Chelsea whispered "How did he get here so fast if we left before him. Did he like… teleport?"

Allen fixed his glasses and squinted "Wait, isn't that Will Westwood? And that's his girlfriend."

"GIRLFRIEND!?" Rio exclaimed

"Michelle… Forte? I think her name was." Allen looked vaguely confused as all the blood drained from Rio's face and she slumped onto the ground and into the foetal position. "Michelle… Forte…" She attempted to process this information.

Rod rushed down beside her "Rio are you okay!?"

Noticing the commotion coming from the other side of the lawn, Will(?) sort-of shoved the girl off of his lap and strode over to the group of friends. Michelle leapt up and followed in hot pursuit.

He smirked down at Rio on the ground "Hope you had fun at the party yesterday, Rio." and with a wink, he and his pink haired girlfriend were gone down the side street.

Everyone was silent. They all looked at Rio. Allen was the first one to speak.

"Rio… since when do you know the Dean's son?"

"I thought… he said he didn't remember you?" Chelsea said quietly. She looked very confused.

Rio walked over to the lawn and lay face down in the grass. "If you guys could please excuse me I'm just going to lie down here and die."

* * *

Well that was officially my first published work on this site. I'd really love some feedback, especially criticism so if you could give me some pointers and suggestions I'd be really grateful.

I'll probably update this relatively soon. I have a plot outline already but it's going to take a few more chapters to really get rolling, so bare with me!

 ** _Thanks for reading!_**


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